Andrew Garfield has been confirmed to don the Spider-Man costume for four films - his Peter Parker alter-ego will be back for three sequels to last year's The Amazing Spider-Man.

As the Brit completes work on his second film as Spider-Man, executives at Sony have announced there will be a third and fourth installments of the franchise in 2016 and 2018.

A statement from Jeff Blake, the film company's chairman of worldwide marketing and distribution, reads: "Spider-Man is our most important, most successful, and most beloved franchise, so we're thrilled that we are in a position to lock in these prime release dates over the next five years."

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is scheduled to open around the world next summer.